The Girl Unknown

"Forgive my rather dramatic entrance," Madara spoke gently to a stunned audience, "she thought it would be justified under poetic license: a courtesan's dance, swallowing whole the peace between men of power," he chuckled lightly to himself, his mask catching the light from the crystal chandeliers and gleaming menacingly. "I agree, it was" he searched for the right word "…fitting, wouldn't you say?" The group stared on in silence for a moment, each group of three and Mifune holding their breath. Eventually, the Mizukage came back to her senses and took a courageous step forward, her woody-red hair shimmering.

"What are you talking about?" She shouted, "Are you insane!?"

"I demand to know your identity!" The Tsuchikage piped up.

"Of course, Tsuchikage, formality is always so important to those who wish to sit and twiddle their thumbs." An eerie chill spread throughout the room; the gathered could feel the menacing and powerful nature of the man in front of them a chill which was all to justifiable when he said; "I am Uchiha Madara-"

"Uchiha Madara!?" A whisper of fear echoed through the hall.

"The very same."

"Why are you here?!" The Mizukage urged him.

"To ask for that which you can give freely or that which I will take at the cost of war."

"And what is that?" The eldest Kage jutted out his chin in defiance and asked coldly.

"The last Jinchuriki to add to my collection; I want the Gyuki and the Kyuubi-" Before anyone had time to react, electricity snapped sound their ankles, a strange buzz flooded the room as the Raikage puffed out his chest and bellowed:

"YOU BASTARDS TOOK MY BROTHER! NOW I SHALL OBLITERATE EVERY CELL IN YOUR BODY-"

"Pity," Madara silenced the man who, a moment before, had grown like a storm cloud to tower above them all and now seemed to shrink back into himself. "I had hoped we could avoid such unpleasantness." Gaara was growing tired of the game the enemy was playing; he was trying to scare them, but the young Kazekage was having none of it. Gaara had to get to the bottom of Ai's involvement in the performance; did she know Madara? Did she know the Akatsuki? It was too bizarre, to impossible…but that was precisely why it suited her.

"What is your goal, Uchiha?" Gaara spoke clearly. His voice was so clear and so soothing, in fact, that the buzz of electricity was stripped from the room in an instant and the creepy flow of energy that emanated from Madara vanished. Gaara stood his ground, planting his feet firmly on the ground, as Madara turned to face him.

"It seems the sharpest of all of you is the youngest- you all grow rust and turn matte with your senility," he turned his head and bowed it slightly to the oldest Kage sharply, "utmost respect, Tsuchikage. I want what you all want," he announced to the group: "peace. I am just not fearful of using force to achieve it." Gaara took a step forwards.

"War for peace is an unsustainable paradox; you have a better chance of separating the sun from the sky." There was a moment of silence in which Madara seemed to consider Gaara in earnest.

"My, my, my," he muttered just loud enough for all to hear, "she taught you to speak well, Gaara." At this sentence, something fell from Gaara's throat and into the pit of his stomach. No. It couldn't be. "But you and I both know, Love always was recklessly ambitious in her endeavours. She would tear up the sun and scorch her hands just to spite you." Blood erupted in Gaara's head, deafening him, it coursed with fierce aggression through him until his fingertips were numb and he felt himself swaying unsteadily on his feet.

The vision of that beautiful girl he had abandoned appeared in his mind as a watery and glistening image. Her soft eyes looked softer in his memory, her skin more perfect, her smile more heart-melting than he ever remembered.

Ai.

"What is he talking about, Kazekage?" Gaara was brought back into the world by the sound of the Mizukage's gentle voice. The buzzing of blood in his ears began to fade away but his voice would not issue from his throat.

"Oh, the Kazekage would be delighted to fill you in, I'm sure," Madara saved him from answering. "But all in good time. First, the Gyuki and the Kyuubi, hand them over to me-" Madara raised his hands to innocently gesture but the ripple effect of this was that each Kage's guard held up their weapons with such speed, you could hear what sounded like the crack of several whips through the air.

"Why do you want them!?" Someone from behind Gaara shouted

"To perform the Mugen Tsukuyomi Genjutsu and cast a spell of peace over the world…"

And so the Kage listened in fear and frustration to what this monster had in store for humanity. Everyone's hearts began to race, their ears picking up every sigh of the twisted maniac's demeanour; his boredom for them, his lust for war. All the while Gaara's thoughts were wondering back to that picture of Ai that was forever etched in his brain. He compared it to the girl he saw here; her eyes were harder, more determined, her smile no longer mischievous but full of maleficence and distrust.

The young Kazekage could not help but feel the burning and toxic heat of guilt nestle inside of his stomach; he should have sought her after she left his room that night. He should not have let someone so delicate out of his sight. But it seemed she was not the girl he once knew; her chakra was different, more subdued, as though trying not to give her away at all…why? What secret was she hiding? Gaara had once been saved from darkness, could he do the same for her?

Unknown to the Kage who were beginning to grow restless with anger over Madara's words, the delicate songbird they had just frightened away, was only in the corridor outside the hall. A cheap theatrical trick had bought Ai a few seconds to run out after the group of dancers who were now all caught up in a frenzy. Shouts were issuing from samurai, cries of terror echoed through out the corridor; Ai had to escape and find Karin. Karin would take her to Sasuke and he would escort her as he searched for the Hokage.

Running through the crowd, without her mask, Ai was uncatchable to those who were not used to performance; the samurai guards could not tell from her jewellery or her clothes that she were any more important than the women holding the lanterns. The courtesan dodged under the flags held by dancers, between the ribbons of clothing that were toiling around her, until she reached an empty corridor.

Dark and dingy, the corridor was barely lit and felt cold as though damp had crawled between the grey bricks of the walls and made a home there. The hallway was entirely empty bar one striking creature at the end, far from Ai. Peering through a door, her red hair looking a dark crimson in the dank environment stood-

"Karin?" Ai called from behind the kunoichi. Karin turned and Ai could see the shine of her glasses. The dancer sighed in relief; she thought she may end up lost in this maze of architecture. Ai turned to look over her shoulder and gasped in surprise as she heard the shouts and footsteps of samurai guards fast approaching. She picked up her feet and began to move hastily towards Karin.

But as she turned to face her comrade, Ai was shocked to see a thin, faint smirk on the girl's face. Like a child hiding sweets, or a traveller taking shade from the noontime sun, Karin had the look of selfish glee about her.

"Karin?" Ai called again in uncertainty, trying to keep her voice down for fear of further alerting the guards. The red headed girl opened the door a fraction and slipped through the crack. "KARIN!?" Ai shouted in disbelief as she witnessed the flash of the girl's cloak disappear behind the door. The blue eyed girl reached the door and tried to open it. "Ah!" Try as she might, the door would not budge. "No," Ai whispered in disbelief; had Karin really left her for dead? She pounded against the door, "Karin?" What was she going to do? She had no plan! She was not made for war! "Please! Open the-" Ai's voice was caught in her throat as something hot trickled down her forehead. Her vision became mixed with the red of her blood as she blinked in an attempt to stay awake. But it did not work; Ai was dragged into unconsciousness but before she fell to her knees she was swept up into the arms of a guard.

***

"Peace with no free will is an illusion; the moon reflected on water is only half as beautiful and utterly intangible!" Gaara protested. The Tsuchikage finally withdrew his focus from Madara and eyed up the formidable Kazekage; the boy was made of exceptional strong will, an enviable demeanour and, of course, immense strength. What amused the elder Kage the most is that this princely boy had been raised to speak like an old king.

"Have you never dreamt of touching the moon, Kazekage?" Gaara raised his head to bring him to his full height as Madara said this; there was a double entendre in his wording that only Gaara would know. "Sasuke tread on cobbled paths through dying, darkened forests his ancestors planted thousands of years ago. One dark night, he saw that very moon reflected on the water of a deep and calm ocean. Now, he has touched the moon itself and he found that moonlight only shines on the path of the Akatsuki…"

Behind the group of Kage, the aides to the Tsuchikage, his spritely and spirited granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, and a very large, friendly man named Akatsuchi, stood, looking desperately lost. Akatsuchi leant down and whispered to his comrade hastily:

"What the hell are they talking about?" At his question, the girl rolled her eyes.

"The moon is symbolic of free will and it's reflection in water is a metaphor for the illusion of free will," the Stone village ninja said in exasperation. "The dying forests is a metaphor for the dying shinobi way of life-"

"No, I get all that," Akatstuchi interrupted and scratched his head in thought.

"Then what's the problem?" Kurotsuchi asked in annoyance.

"Why's the Suna kid blushing?" As the large ninja said this, the girl looked past the Mizukage to catch a glimpse of Gaara, the handsome Kazekage she had heard about. Her eyes were first drawn to his; those deep oceanic pools of greeny-blue often left onlookers mesmerised. She then took in his face; Akatsuchi was right, the Kazekage's face was red! But then she looked at the whole of him and frowned; his fists were clenched, he was gritting his teeth, itching to kill the man in front of them. "What's there to be embarrassed about?" As her friend asked her this, Kurotsuchi frowned and said slowly:

"He's not blushing, he's-" The room was plunged into semi-darkness as sand erupted from the Kazekage's gourd and sped towards Madara.

"Where is Uchiha Sasuke!?" Gaara's voice bellowed with all its ferociousness through out the hall.

"-furious!" Kurotsuchi breathed the last word of her sentence in fear before being stunned to silence. Something happened to the Kazekage's sand- it seemed to be swallowed into nothingness like water down a plughole. Immediately the Kazekage withdrew his sand.

"I think that metaphor was working on levels we weren't aware of.," Akatsuchi said plainly, clearly unfazed by what just happened.

"Sasuke is the last of your worries, Kazekage," Madara said sharply before turning to the rest of the group. "Prepare for war." And in an instant, he was gone.

"WHERE IS THE UCHIHA!?" Kankuro jumped as the Raikage swelled up like a giant raincloud and shrieked the question, making the hairs on the back of the puppeteer's neck stand up in fear. The Mizukage's aid spoke swiftly;

"One floor below us, 55 metres West of here," Kankuro frowned in unease as he watched the man's Byakugan pulse in the veins around his eye.

"LET'S MOVE OUT." Without warning, with no desire to make a plan or discuss recent events, the Raikage smashed through a stone wall and left the room. One of his aides smiled apologetically at them all.

"Haha," he laughed weakly, "sorry about the wall!" He exclaimed before he and his team mate leapt after their Raikage, leaving the other Kage to look after them in confusion. Kankuro turned back to the group and his eyes fell on an empty space; the Hokage had left. The Tsuchikage seemed to notice this too and tutted in disapproval before turning and sneering at the Suna team.

"I feel Suna is withholding information at this crucial junction in events-"

"There is no junction, Tsuchikage" Gaara folded his arms and turned to the man. "War is coming- the path does not divide, there is only one side for us all to take." At his words, the Mizukage nodded:

"Here, here. Well said, Kazekage." She said confidently, earning a look of cynicism from the Tsuchikage who decided to take control of the situation:

"Konoha has abandoned us; let this not be a reflection of the village as a whole but as an incident that puts to rest suspicions against the current Hokage-"

"That Danzo guy always creeped me out," Kankruo muttered behind Gaara.

"Suna will handle Uchiha Sasuke," Gaara informed the room, "as the closest allies to the Leaf Village, it is the only correct course of action to take." From behind Gaara, Temari and Kankuro shared a look; Ai was somehow involved in the Akatsuki now, they both hoped Gaara was not acting with her in mind. They had to appear as impartial and even consider denying Ai's identity if need be.

"The Raikage will not agree," the Mizukage warned them. Temari stepped into he light.

"Was he not listening? He thought his brother was already taken by Sasuke, but Madara told us words to the contrary. His brother is most likely in hiding."

"That man is ruled by his temper…" Temari heard the Mizukage muttered as the group decided their next steps.

The blonde Suna kunoichi pondered this thought presented by the Mizukage; the Raikage was ruled by his temper. He seemed to embody exactly what his village stood for: clouds. But more than that, he was the Raikage (Lighting shadow); it was almost as though he tried to embody a fierce and unforgiving rainstorm. With a temper sharp as lightning and a voices as booming as thunder, he was frightening as a storm. Temari thought of the Tsuchikage; she could sense he still help formidable power and strength as though age did not define him. Like the earth beneath your feet; steady, ready to be made into building blocks for a village, sturdy and reliable. The Mizukage was as delicate and terrifying as a thick, sweet smelling mist…

Indeed, each Kage seemed somewhat similar to the meaning of their title and the name of their village. As the suna siblings made their way through the dark halls of the Iron Vault in order to find Sasuke, Temari looked at her brother's side profile. How was Gaara like the wind or sand? Harsh, like a mountain breeze, chilling like the winds over a frozen lake? Coarse, like the sand between rocks or smooth and golden like the sand of their village? So much of him he was yet to discover for himself. He was so young and unaware and his siblings were constantly worried for his reputation as the Kazekage and, whilst they had of course seen him handle obstacles with grace and humility, they were also aware that Ai could turn those golden grains of sand coarse in all but a whisper.

With trepidation and in silence, the siblings entered the hall in which they could sense the Raikage's chakra emanating from him like the solar flares of a dying sun. The room was equally as dark as everywhere else but, what little light there was, gave view to a purplish stone that formed archways and mosaic flooring. Samurai were kneeling at the sides of the hall, clutching wounds and cradling limbs. Rubble lay strewn in messy piles, indicating the intensity with which the battles had been fought. Lanterns flickered in the presence of all those in the room and the Kazekage spotted the Raikage looking around himself with impatience, to discover the whereabouts of the intruder.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Gaara spoke loudly and clearly into the hall. A shadow on the far wall twisted and contorted into unrecognisable, demonic shapes before footsteps were heard clearer from the other side of the room. From behind a pillar, covered in the blood of others, barely flinching at the immense chakra flowing throughout the room, walked Sasuke. But it was not the vision of him alone; there, tucked beside his hips, her waist held by his left hand, was someone Gaara knew well. Her fingers, dipped in blood, were brushing stones, leaving a trail of blood behind Sasuke. She was unconscious; her eyes shut, a trickle of blood between them, her white and gold dress flowing all around her as her hair dragged on the floor. She looked angelic, her face made those in the room stop and question why she was the enemy.

Had Sasuke captured her and taken her hostage? Had he used his sharingan to cast a genjutsu of unending slavery on the girl?

Deep down, Gaara knew what the truth was, he could almost write out what had happened following Ai leaving him. She met a man that told her he could give her all she truly deserved and she believed him. Love! Why did she always have to be so reckless? So attracted to chaos and confusion?

"What are you doing with her?" Kankuro came to stand in line with Gaara and spoke to Sasuke directly. The anger in his voice did not go unnoticed by Temari.

"Easy, Kankuro," she whispered to him; they could not give their position away!

"What does it matter to any of you?" Sasuke called with a snide smirk.

"Release her," Gaara spoke as softly as he dared. He watched the familiar way Sasuke gripped the girl's waist, the way he looked down on her with a look of total unimportance. No, it's not because she was unimportant but that she was so necessary to him, she became a part of him. Something flared inside of Gaara. "Immediately." Sasuke threw his head back and laughed.

"I take orders from no one, Sabaku no Gaara," the Uchiha sniggered.

"Gaara," Temari whispered, "tread carefully now. All eyes are on us," his sister said urgently. Gaara folded his arms and try as he might, he could not prevent the rebellious, uncontrollable anger that bubbled inside of him. "Gaara!" He heard Temari shout as sand erupted from all around them and the Kazekage encased a third of the room in sand, essentially creating a sealed wall between him and Sasuke, and the rest of the group.

Finally, the Uchiha looked intrigued; he let Ai tumble onto he floor and stood in a combat position. Gaara walked towards him slowly.

"Take the fact the you are still living as a mercy by my kindness." The Kazekage stopped a good twenty metres from the Uchiha, just enough so Gaara could make out the anger behind his eyes. "Make no mistake, Sasuke, if I see Ai in your arms again I will remove your limbs from you with all the clemency of a hurricane." Gaara gave no consideration for what this information may provide the enemy with. His mind was no longer working as a diplomat. He felt more alive than he had in years; he could feel a mixture of anger and aggression coursing through his veins, igniting in the way Shukaku used to control. Sasuke shot the unconscious girl a quick look.

"So it's true?" He murmured to himself. "Well, well, well," he addressed Gaara, "it seems the serene Kazekage is all an act?" Sasuke watched as Gaara's eyes darted to the courtesan on the floor. "Are you really still in love with her?" Sasuke asked in a bored voice. "Are you so benevolent, oh great Kazekage, that you would forgive her after all she's done to humiliate you?" At these words, Gaara's fears were confirmed. He shook his head in pity at the Uchiha.

"The darkness in your eyes, I once thought was so familiar but now I can see clearly; you are plagued with childish and selfish misery. You hold on to nothing other than making others feel how you feel; alone!" Gaara almost laughed, "I pitied you for so long. I encouraged Naruto for all his hope in you when you seemed as lost as I was. But that is not true. You are nothing like me. Even Love must pity you-" in less than the blink of an eye, Sasuke was racing towards Gaara, Katana outstretched, ready to strike.

"You know nothing of how I feel!" The Uchiha screamed and was immediately faced with a waterfall of sandy spikes he had to dodge, preventing him from even getting close to the Kazekage.

"Angry at everyone who was supposed to do what was right?" Gaara shouted back. "Hurt by those who should have protected you? Insanely terrified of her?" The question seemed to stump Sasuke as Gaara gestured to Ai. "Yes. Yes, of course you are. Just as I was. How is it someone so gentle could lay a hand against the face of evil and not even flinch? How is it she can melt that which took years to harden?" The red headed shinobi let out a defeated, dejected laugh. "I know the kinds of spells she casts. In the darkness of your eyes lies the moon; you are laced with the seduction of her enchantment." The look on Sasuke's face was one of confusion and hurt; he was so muddled and mixed up by the whirlwind of recent emotions. "But be warned, Sasuke," the Kazekage's serious tone caught his attention. "Ai cannot save you," Gaara warned him and looked the man dead in the eye, with no fear of the formidable sharingan. "Because she will never love you like she loved me." A heartbeat of silence.

"As if I lust after the love of a whore!" Sasuke screamed and inhaled deeply, before placing his hands in front of his mouth and breathing fire at the words of the Kazekage.

"Then why not leave her for dead?" Gaara asked calmly as sand shielded him from he fire. "Why protect her? You did not protect your other comrades." The Uchiha stopped for another moment and looked around to Ai; Gaara was easily manipulating the troubled man's emotions. "You see, while you have squandered your time in battle, I have learnt alternative methods of inciting fear into the hearts of my enemies." The man stated calmly, earning a smirk from Sasuke.

"I'm sure your father is proud-"

"As, I'm sure, is yours," Gaara would not let him try the same tactic. "We are so similar, I can see why she laid her eyes on you in the first place," the Kazekage sighed in exasperation. "Love adores chaos. And what are you and I, other than chaos?" Sasuke's eyes were darting manically, he only had the instinct to get Gaara away from him, to stop him from swirling the already tumbling twister of emotions that were twirling inside of Sasuke.

"You are truly a pathetic excuse for a Kage," Sasuke exclaimed, "lift up your weapon, Gaara, and face me!"

"You and I both know I could destroy you in an instant-"

"Then why haven't you?"

"I have come to bargain," Gaara folded his arms; "I will not kill you, in return for Ai." Sasuke turned to Ai and picked her up.

"I have a better idea-"

"No!" Gaara held out a hand in fear, his sand hovered above him, waiting to strike, as Sasuke placed the blade of his katana against the flesh of Ai's neck.

"Let me go and in return I will not kill her," Sasuke said.

"I told you if you touched her again I would tear you limb from limb!" Gaara gulped in fear as he watched the blade of the katana begin to graze Ai's neck. Sasuke pulled Ai in his grip and her head flopped forward; she was out cold. As Sasuke adjusted her, Gaara could see the katana getting dangerously close to her veins. "Ai!" The Kazekage called to her as, in a jerked motion, Sasuke hoisted her higher in his arms.

"Do you really think I would not do it?" Sasuke snarled, "grant me safe passage out of here." Gaara looked at him in defeat.

"Head underground," the Kazekage instructed.

***

An hour later, Mifune had re-gathered the Kage, with the exception of the Hokage, and their aides in the golden hall where Ai had performed. The group all turned to the Kazekage suddenly.

"Who was that girl?" the Mizukage asked kindly. She had seen the way Gaara had reacted at every step of the evening, the only time he lost his cool and calm demeanour is when the blue eyed dancer was involved. Temari and Kankuro bowed their heads as Gaara went with the truth. He stepped forwards into the light and appraised the room with the confidence of a king.

"Her name is Ariwara no Ai," he said calmly.

"Ariwara," the Mizukage thought for a moment, "like the poet?"

"She is his daughter and was a native of Suna until her banishment late last year," Gaara said.

"Why was she banished?" The Tsuchikage asked.

"It's a little complicated-"

"I will rest easy with a brief synopsis," came the impatient response of the Raikage.

"She was framed for assisting in my assassination by higher ups who did not approve of our relationship," Gaara admitted with evident hardship.

"Relationship?" The Tsuchikage's granddaughter spoke suddenly before her eyes widened in shock at her own outspoken nature.

"Ai was my first love," Gaara murmured much to the surprise of the gathered group.

"How tragic." The group turned their heads in surprise to the Tsuchikage who had spoken with such sincerity that they thought an imposter was among them. "What?" He asked indignantly, "I have a heart." His aides the friendly giant-like man, turned to the Kazekage.

"Why did they-"

"Akatsuchi," Kurotsuchi hit her comrade on the belly, "you can't ask that!"

"She's a House girl, isn't she?" Again, everyone was surprised to hear the Tsuchikage speak up. "Someone with such a lovely face, with he deportment of a queen and talents of a geisha can only be one of two things: royalty or slave," he nodded his head sagely as Gaara nodded in confirmation of his allegation. "So the beautiful courtesan falls in love with the young Kazekage much to the displeasure of the elders. They frame her and you cannot, as much as you desire to, convince them of her innocence so she is banished. In doing so, her anger towards them turns to you. And, I hear, you are recently engaged. A young woman's heart is a fickle and fiery thing, Kazekage." Gaara, who had been disturbed by the cold and hard manner of the elder Kage, was suddenly warming to his pragmatic and sensible approach.

"Indeed, Tsuchikage," he smiled softly.

"But why would they enlist this girl?" The Raikage asked, "just for the performance today?" Kankuro spoke up:

"Ai has talents many Shinobi do not have. She can read and write Jodāi Nohingo (Old Japanese) with ease; none of us could read her summoning circle tonight- we had no chance to fight it."

"She can also communicate with tailed beasts." Temari added.

"What a unique woman," the Raikage puffed out his chest in admiration. "You should have enlisted her in your special forces before they did."

"If Madara was not enough trouble, it seems this girl could aid him in ways we cannot comprehend," the Mizukage said. A defeated silence crept into the room and the group looked lost for a second. That was until the courageous and kind Kazekage took a step forwards and addressed them all in earnest.

"I will talk to her."